Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2014 September 16

= September 16 =

Do you know the titles of the two songs whose music was used in these two separate Cinder Calhoun sketches on SNL?
If you're familiar with the late 1990s SNL character Cinder Calhoun (played by Ana Gasteyer), I'm looking for the titles of two songs whose music she used in two separate sketches she did namely Sausage Of Pain (aired Sep 27 1997) and Xmas Chainsaw Massacre (aired Dec 05 1998). Contact Basemetal   here  00:31, 16 September 2014 (UTC)
 * I don't really understand your question. She says the titles of the songs, and you even quote them in your post.  If you're saying that she's putting new lyrics to someone else's music in those songs, and you're asking what music that is, I think you're wrong – she's just strumming chords and singing along to them. --Viennese Waltz 08:31, 16 September 2014 (UTC)
 * Obviously I meant the latter namely that she set new words to the tunes of two pre-existing songs. The tunes she used sound vaguely familiar to me. In fact the one she uses for "Christmas Chainsaw Massacre" sounds very much like a well known Christmas carol, but I'm just not able to recall its title. The tune of the first song also sounds familiar. These are not original tunes. Contact Basemetal   here  10:10, 16 September 2014 (UTC)


 * Those links are blocked in the US. Can you find other sources? ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 22:54, 16 September 2014 (UTC)


 * I found some transcripts:"Sausage of Pain", "Christmas Chainsaw Massacre". The "Christmas Chainsaw Massacre" lyrics include a line that says "O Tannenbaum, your life is gone" and the meter of the lyrics could be sung to "O Tannenbaum" / "O Christmas Tree". --Bavi H (talk) 01:01, 18 September 2014 (UTC)


 * @ Viennese Waltz : I agree to the extent it is possible they are not straight parodies. She may have done more than just taken a tune and set different words to it. One song she sang (with Sarah McLachlan) does have an original tune, namely Basted In Blood which I suppose was written by McLachlan. But as for the other two when I heard them the first time they immediately rang a bell.
 * @ Baseball Bugs : I looked for other links but no luck. How ridiculous of SNL to shut out the biggest group of SNL fans. Can't see a reason for it.
 * @ Bavi H : Though she does refer to Tannenbaum to me the tunes are different. I was thinking of an English Christmas carol. Leaving aside how familiar the tune sounds, the words start: "For unto us a tree was born / She cried and no one heard her / The only gifts the Wise Men brought / Were Frankincense and murder". This obviously spoofs words that would be something like "For unto us a child was born [blah blah] gifts the Wise Men brought were frankincense and myrrh". Unfortunately "For unto us a child was born" is taken from Isaiah 9:6 and is used in so many places. I tried to Google for a Christmas carol that would contain those words, but, as far as a piece of music, I only get the famous chorus from Handel's Messiah (not exactly a Christmas carol) whose music doesn't sound at all like what she sings.
 * Contact Basemetal   here  19:29, 18 September 2014 (UTC)
 * The meter sounds like "I Saw Three Ships" from what I'm reading. This institution I'm in at the moment bans YouTube so I can't access that, but could that be it maybe?  ~Helicopter  Llama~  20:27, 18 September 2014 (UTC)


 * The Christmas one is not Tannenbaum, neither is it I Saw Three Ships. Does have a familiar ring to it tho'. DuncanHill (talk) 14:30, 20 September 2014 (UTC)


 * I don't know whether it's their own composition. There are two or three similarities to "God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen", both melodically and structurally, but then there are parts that sound more like a modern folk song, but I can't place which one. In any event I don't think I've ever heard that exact tune before. ---Sluzzelin talk  14:38, 20 September 2014 (UTC)